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This spring, the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) department sponsored various trips to DEI-related student-led conferences at neighboring independent schools. SBS students participated in the conferences with students from across the country and around the world, connecting on topics such as identity, community, culture, and belonging. 

The first of these conferences was the Asian American Footsteps Conference (AAFC) at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Founded in 2011, AAFC is an annual student-led conference where Asian-identifying students from independent secondary schools throughout New England can connect. AAFC is a safe space for Asian, Asian American, and mixed heritage Asian students and provides intentional spaces for students to explore issues specific to their experience. The goals of AAFC are to encourage, create, inform, and foster: Encourage students to embrace and celebrate their culture and heritage; Create an inclusive environment for students from independent schools to share their own cultures and experiences with each other; Inform students about different Asian experiences and issues through workshops and activities; Foster a community through building bridges among our cultures. This year’s conference theme was Building Bridges, Connecting our Heritage and Future and Asian American civil rights leader Madalene Mielke delivered the keynote address. 

The second conference SBS students attended was the Spectrum Interschool Conference at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. This annual conference is for LGBTQIA2S+ students and allies, and this year’s theme was Non-Western Perspectives. Students explored the identities of LGBTQIAS2+ identities and were immersed in community building with students from across the country and around the world. SBS students shared: “Non-Western cultures have a very different view of gender and sexuality, and are much more accepting of diversity— they’re traditions are extremely important, but are being lost.” and “I gained additional insight on the erasure of Non-Western cultures and the forced assimilation for safety and belonging.” This year’s Spectrum Interschool Conference featured two keynote speakers: Jess X. Snow and Albert McLeod. Jess Snow is a multi-disciplinary artist, poet, and filmmaker of the Jiangxi Chinese diaspora and Albert McLeod is a Status Indian with ancestry from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and a human rights activist.

Learn more about DEI at SBS at sbschool.org/dei.